"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> Kent wrote:
>> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Kent wrote:
>>>> I posted a similar question on alt.food.barbecue. It may be more
>>>> appropriate for this NG., Curing, to reduce botulism etc. is an
>>>> important part of low temperature smoking.
>>>> Have any of you cured with nitrites or nitrates in your brine, or
>>>> cure? I have done a dry rub with Morton's Tenderquick[.5% sodium
>>>> nitrite and
>>>> nitrate], with limited success as it only cures the surface.
>>>> The FDA says that your finished cured meat shouldn't have more than 200
>>>> parts per million to avoid the evil cancer from emerging.
>>>> If any have used Tenderquick, what is your recipe for the brine. How
>>>> much Tenderquick do you use per quart of cure and how did you arrive at
>>>> it? Mortons does not post any of this on their site. Obviously they
>>>> should.
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Kent
>>> What are you curing? Salt/nitrite/nitrate rubbed on the surface of the
>>> meat does not just cure the outside, it slowly penetrates the whole
>>> piece of meat thru osmosis, but I don't remember the rate of absorption.
>>> (I think it's one inch per week.) Many years ago, my dad an I butchered
>>> a hog every winter and we cured the hams, bacon, and jowls by rubbing
>>> them with Morton Sugar Cure and curing them in the bottom of the
>>> refrigerator for a couple of weeks. In retrospect, Tenderquick would
>>> have worked better for the bacon and jowls.
>>
>> This is true for a very long dry cured ham like proscuitto. You're not
>> going to accomplish that in two weeks.
>
> It also works for a boneless ham; especially if you put it in a plastic
> tub and let it sit in its own juice.
>
>>> I've used Tenderquick to cure salami. I just used it in place of salt.
>>> I have an unopened 2# bag of Prague Powder that I'll start using when
>>> the bag of Tenderquick is finally used up.
>>>
>>
>> Be careful. Prague powder has 6.4% nitrite. Morton's TenderQuick has .5%.
>> You're curing with more than 10 times more nitrite.
>
>
> I'm aware of that. I won't use Prague as a direct replacement for TQ.
> I'll calculate the amount of Prague to use for the pounds of meat, then
> add salt so the total equals the amount of TQ in the recipe.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

The problem with that is that you don't know the ratio of sugar to salt in
TQ.
Kent